Reviews of music and some things that I like and don't like

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Monthly Archives: January 2016

The Age of Plastic is the debut studio album written, produced and performed by British new wave duo The Buggles, which consisted of Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes. With the big hit “Video Killed The Radio Star,” this album became a real worldwide success. This deluxe edition features three bonus tracks.

The Buggles have a place in music history because “Video Killed The Radio Star” was the first music video shown on MTV, but don’t think that this album is just that one song, it has a lot more to offer. “Kid Dynamo,” is a great song with electric guitars and strings that propel the song along. “I Love You (Miss Robot)” has great female vocals midway through the song and its synthesized vocals make this seem like it was the future at the time. “Clean, Clean” has a slow beginning before going full force with guitar and drums, and has an inspired synthesizer solo in the middle of the song. “Johnny On The Monorail” is a quick-paced soundscape of synthesizer playing. The bonus songs add some depth, and time to this short album. The three bonus tracks on this reissue are; the delightful lite-reggae “Island,” the quirky “Technopop,” and a different version of “Johnny On The Monorail.” The remastering job makes this a lot clearer and crisper, you can hear sounds and bleeps that were hidden on the original release, plus the quieter passages no longer have that mild hissing noise.

A great album that holds up just as well now as it did when it was first released and actually may be just as relevant of technology taking over. Grab this and relive the fun and excitement of early new wave, just remember to play it loud.

Music Complete is New Order’s tenth studio album, and it’s the first batch of new songs they’ve recorded since 2005’s Waiting For The Sirens’ Call. This is the first album since the departure of bassist Peter Hook and reintroducing original keyboardist Gillian Gilbert back into the fold.

“Restless” is their leadoff single and is a little bit mellow, but still a very good song with a nice groove to it, but “Singularity” is a real corker that should have started the album. It is faster and has more of those old, peppy dance songs that they do so well. “Plastic” is another fantastic track that gives you a lot of the classic music they have put out, but still keeps things very much modern. You also get La Roux’s Elly Jackson on the great tracks“Plastic,” “Tutti Frutti,” and “People on the High Line,” Iggy Pop on “Stray Dog’” and longtime fan and friend Brandon Flowers on “Superheated.” The band have really gotten back into the mindset of putting out an album that gets you dancing, but also thinking about their lyrics. The music takes you back more into the ’80s, but not in sound, but in style of the album.

A great release that will have you singing and dancing along to the songs for a long time. Don’t worry, that guy who isn’t in the band anymore isn’t missed too badly since new bassist Tom Chapman handles those duties quite well.

Thirty two years after its original release sees the first CD reissue of the debut album by new wave synthpop pioneers Kissing The Pink in a digitally remastered and expanded edition. This special edition includes the twelve original album tracks, plus seven related bonus tracks all sourced from the original master tapes. All the tracks have been sourced from the original production master tapes, the CD booklet features the original album front cover plus, extensive sleeve notes with band members sharing their memories of the period and a UK discography.

I remember back when this album came out, I heard the song “Watching Their Eyes” on radio station CFNY and taped it, and loved it. I spent a long time trying to find the album, but no one seemed to carry it and I had to settle for that one song. One day I was out with my mom shopping at Zellers, a low priced chain store, I know, how cool of me, and saw this album in the cut out bin in their music department and almost died…my album that I have been looking all over for, now just $3.99. I had to have it and got my mom to buy it for me, and played the hell out of it. Now this new remastered CD is out and I couldn’t be happier to have it. I have played this album over and over and read the booklet a few times over too. To have “Watching Their Eyes” uncut from the radio, and the remix of this song, it has been fantastic to say the least. There are more great songs on here too, “Mr. Blunt,” “Last Film,” and “Big Man Restless.” The great thing is the added remixes which add to the album so much. The album is dancey and esoteric at the same time, something that bands in the ’80s grasped well.

With great sound, and bonus tracks, this is a very welcome addition to my collection and should be one in yours. This band went a fair bit more commercial later on and this shows the more edgy side of their music. A great album that still sounds fresh and exciting.